Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar yesterday said that he has reconciled his differences with his former boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Atiku also identified waste, poor management and failure to diversify the economy by the current administration as reasons for the adverse economic impact of the fall in oil price.
According to a statement by his media office, the former Vice President made the assertion at an interactive session with the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria Conference (CBNC) in Abuja where he testified that there was no love lost between him and Obasanjo.
His declaration followed the anxiety expressed by the Most Reverend Anthony Obinna, Archbishop of Owerri and his counterpart from Calabar, the Most Reverend Joseph Ekuwem.
Both Clergymen had expressed disappointment at the celebrated face-off between the two men when they were in power as President and Vice President between 1999-2003.
Dr Obinna said that in 1999, both Obasanjo and Atiku started well to the admiration and high expectation of Nigerians, only for the people to be disappointed when rift and ill-will developed between them thereby derailing the progress of the nation.
He lamented that the political class has failed the nation tracing today’s problem of insecurity and corruption to the failure of the political elite. He asked the former Vice President to assure the nation’s Catholics that the rift was over and that such would not occur again.
Also responding to the concerns of the Clergy men on the insurgency ravaging the country, and the accompanying insecurity, the APC presidential aspirant told the CNBC led by the Most Reverend (Dr.) Ignatius Kaigama that it was the duty of the political and military leadership to end insurgency.
He recalled that while in office with his principal, similar situation played out with an insurgent group known “Nigerian Taliban”, but their government crushed the group in less than no time.
He told the clerics that “our country is going through very difficult times, especially general insecurity all over the country, but particularly in the North east and which is spreading but unfortunately poorly managed.”
Speaking on the state of the economy, Atiku said that poor management of the economy in times of boom culminated into the present austerity measure which he said was unnecessary.
